For manufacturers in Windsor-Essex, a government support program meant to soften the impact of tariffs is creating a different kind of uncertainty: the wait for an answer. The Canadian Association of Moldmakers says some companies that applied for federal tariff assistance in May 2026 were still waiting for responses in September, while the Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce estimates more than 100 local businesses have sought support through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative.
The delays come at a difficult moment for one of Canada’s most trade-exposed manufacturing regions. Moldmakers and tooling companies are dealing with altered U.S. metal tariffs, customers postponing deliveries and pressure on working capital. Ottawa, meanwhile, has expanded the assistance available and says it is working to process applications as quickly as possible.
Months of Waiting Are Colliding With an Immediate Cash-Flow Problem
Canadian Association of Moldmakers executive director Nicole Vlanich says companies that submitted applications in May were still waiting months later for a response. Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Ryan Donally has similarly raised concerns about processing speed, estimating that more than 100 local businesses have applied for Regional Tariff Response Initiative support. That figure does not mean every one of those applications has been pending since May, but it gives a sense of the volume of local companies looking to Ottawa for assistance.
FedDev Ontario, which administers the program in southern Ontario, told CBC that it was making efforts to process applications as quickly as possible but did not provide an expected turnaround time or say how many applications remained under review. For manufacturers, uncertainty over timing matters almost as much as the eventual decision. Payroll, equipment financing, supplier invoices and utility bills continue arriving while companies wait, making a program designed to respond to an economic shock most valuable when funding can reach businesses before short-term pressure becomes a longer-term problem.
The April Tariff Change Altered the Economics of Cross-Border Tooling
The pressure intensified after the United States changed its Section 232 tariff system in April. A presidential proclamation effective April 6, 2026, changed how duties were calculated on steel, aluminum, copper and numerous derivative products. Many covered steel and aluminum products became subject to a 50 per cent tariff calculated on the product’s full customs value rather than only its metal content. Other categories of derivative products received different rates, meaning the exact duty depends on the product’s classification.
That distinction is crucial for mold and tooling businesses because a sophisticated industrial mold is worth far more than the raw steel inside it. It incorporates engineering, machining, programming, design work and hundreds or thousands of hours of skilled labour. CAMM has warned that applying tariffs to the full customs value dramatically increases the cost facing U.S. customers purchasing certain Canadian-made tools. The association argues that Canadian moldmakers are deeply integrated into North American manufacturing rather than operating simply as raw-material exporters, making the tariff structure particularly disruptive for long-established cross-border relationships.
Delayed Shipments Can Leave Manufacturers Carrying Millions in Costs
The tariff problem does not begin only when a finished tool crosses the Ambassador Bridge. It can affect cash flow weeks or months earlier. Aaron Aalbers, president of Aalbers Tool & Mold in Oldcastle, described U.S. customers postponing delivery of completed tools while hoping that tariff rules would change. Because manufacturers are often not fully paid until equipment is shipped or accepted, a delayed delivery can leave the Canadian supplier financing the work for substantially longer than expected.
Aalbers said in May that shops could find millions of dollars tied up in tools sitting on the Canadian side of the border. He gave the example of manufacturers with roughly $45 million in annual sales potentially having $10 million to $15 million held up, a level of exposure he described as unsustainable. The issue illustrates why industry representatives have focused heavily on liquidity rather than only long-term investment incentives. A profitable company can still encounter serious financial strain when receivables are delayed while wages, debt servicing, material purchases and other operating expenses continue on schedule.
Windsor’s Exposure Is Larger Than the Fate of Individual Mold Shops
The concern carries additional weight because Windsor-Essex sits inside one of North America’s most integrated automotive manufacturing corridors. Statistics Canada estimated that 16.4 per cent of employment in the broader Windsor-Sarnia economic region in 2024 was in industries dependent on U.S. demand for Canadian exports. The agency later identified Windsor-Sarnia as one of the Canadian labour markets where the effects of U.S. trade disruption had been particularly visible, with the regional unemployment rate reaching 10.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2025.
Moldmakers occupy a specialized position inside that ecosystem. They produce tooling used to manufacture components rather than simply assembling the final vehicle, meaning disruptions can move through several layers of the supply chain. Federal material describing Windsor’s automotive economy has also noted that nearly 98 per cent of automotive firms in the region are small or medium-sized enterprises. Smaller suppliers generally have less capacity than multinational automakers to absorb long periods of uncertainty, making access to working capital, predictable orders and clear trade rules especially important when cross-border conditions change quickly.
Ottawa Has Sent Money to Windsor — Just Not to Every Applicant Yet
The complaints about unanswered applications do not mean federal tariff assistance has stopped flowing into Windsor-Essex. On May 14, FedDev Ontario announced just over $20 million for 14 businesses in the region. The recipients included several firms closely connected to tooling and manufacturing, such as Laval Tool & Mould, Mega Mold International, Service Mold + Aerospace, Unique Tool & Gauge and Sabre Machine Tool. Individual contributions ranged from hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $6 million.
Earlier in 2026, Ottawa also announced up to $700,000 through the tariff initiative for Windsor-based NextGen Mold Technologies to invest in advanced machining and automation. CBC subsequently reported that FedDev Ontario said approximately 300 projects had received RTRI support across southern Ontario since May 2025. Those approvals show the program is producing investments, but they do not resolve the separate concern being raised by companies still in the queue. For those businesses, the relevant question is less about how much Ottawa has announced overall and more about when their own applications will receive a decision.
The Support Program Has Expanded Repeatedly Since It Was Created
The Regional Tariff Response Initiative itself has changed substantially since Ottawa first announced it in March 2025 with an initial national commitment of $450 million. The federal government increased the initiative to $1 billion later in 2025. In May 2026, another $500 million was announced, including additional funding aimed at businesses affected by steel, aluminum and copper tariffs. Southern Ontario was allocated another $215 million as part of that expansion.
Ottawa expanded the initiative again in September 2026. The government announced another $1.5 billion nationally and said the regional development agencies would ultimately deliver $3.45 billion through the expanded initiative. For businesses, the larger funding envelope increases the potential amount of help available. It also means the program companies first encountered has been repeatedly modified while applications were being prepared or reviewed. CAMM says that changing forms, criteria and funding options have contributed to uncertainty among members that already submitted requests and are trying to determine how newer program rules affect applications that were already in the system.
New Liquidity Funding Is Designed for Exactly the Pressure Firms Describe
The September expansion added a particularly important feature for manufacturers experiencing delayed payments: explicit liquidity assistance. Under the enhanced southern Ontario program, an eligible business can receive up to $2 million in non-repayable liquidity assistance for needs such as employee wages and essential recurring operating expenses. Companies may also seek support for longer-term pivot projects involving automation, productivity improvements, market diversification or supply-chain resilience.
Combined non-repayable assistance can reach $3 million — up to $2 million for liquidity and up to $1 million for a non-repayable pivot project. Larger projects may receive repayable assistance, with total RTRI support potentially reaching $20 million under the program’s rules. Eligibility generally requires businesses to demonstrate tariff exposure, and the initiative focuses on firms with at least $1 million in annual revenue. That design addresses two different problems confronting Windsor manufacturers: surviving the immediate disruption without shedding productive capacity, while also investing in technology or new markets that could make them less vulnerable to the next cross-border trade shock.
The Larger Test Is Whether Emergency Support Can Move at Business Speed
The disagreement now is less about whether assistance exists than whether its delivery can match the pace of the disruption. Donally has argued that government needs to move at the speed businesses operate, while Vlanich has called for greater clarity around applications and contacts. FedDev Ontario, for its part, says applicants can obtain information through its website, email and toll-free service, and the agency has been holding information sessions explaining the expanded program. It maintains that applications are being processed as quickly as possible.
For Windsor moldmakers, however, the calendar is becoming part of the economic calculation. Months of uncertainty can influence whether a company buys equipment, accepts another large order, keeps carrying an unpaid tool or delays hiring. Ottawa’s expanded liquidity and diversification measures could provide substantial assistance to qualifying firms, but industry representatives are emphasizing that the usefulness of emergency funding depends heavily on timing. In a manufacturing corridor built around tightly synchronized supply chains, a decision arriving months later may confront a very different business than the one that originally applied.
